Editing Elections in Pakistan (section)

===General elections from 1977 to 2013===

After the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Liberation]] of [[East Pakistan]], [[Democracy in Pakistan|democracy]] returned to the country. In 1977, the [[1977 Pakistani general election|general elections]] were held but due to election violence instigated by the right-wing [[Pakistan National Alliance|PNA]], the [[Operation Fair Play|martial law]] took advance against the left oriented [[Pakistan Peoples Party]], or PPP.

In 1988, the [[1988 Pakistani general election|general elections]] were held again which marked the PPP coming in power but dismissed in two years following the [[Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–92)|lawlessness situation]] in the country. In 1990, the [[1990 Pakistani general election|general elections]] saw the [[Islamic Democratic Alliance|right-wing]] alliance forming the government but dismissed in 1993 after the alliance collapsed. The [[1993 Pakistani general election|general elections]] in 1993 saw the PPP forming government after successfully seeking [[Plurality voting system|plurality]] in the [[Parliament of Pakistan|Parliament]]. [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] [[Benazir Bhutto]] made critical decisions during her era, ranging from working to strengthening the education, defense, foreign policy and pressed her policies hard to implement her domestic program initiatives. Despite her tough rhetoric, Prime Minister Bhutto's own position deteriorated in her native province, [[Sindh]], and lost her support following the death of her [[Murtaza Bhutto|younger brother]]. Tales of high-scale [[Corruption charges against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari|corruption cases]] also maligned her image in the country and was dismissed from her post by her own hand-picked [[Farooq Leghari|president]] in 1996. The [[1997 Pakistani general elections|1997 general elections]] saw the centre-right, [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]], or PML (N), ging the [[exclusive mandate]] in the country and [[supermajority]] in the parliament. Despite Sharif's popularity in 1998 and popular peace initiatives in 1999, the [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état|conspiracy]] was hatched against Sharif by General [[Pervez Musharraf|Musharraf]], who accused Sharif of hijacking the plane and pressed terrorism charges against Sharif in the [[Judge Advocate General Branch|military courts]]; thus ending Sharif's government.

Ordered by the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Supreme Court]], General Musharraf held [[2002 Pakistani general election|general election]] in 2002, preventing Sharif and Benazir Bhutto from keeping the public office. With [[Zafarullah Khan Jamali|Zafarullah Jamali]] becoming the Prime Minister in 2002, he left the office for [[Shaukat Aziz]] in 2004. After the deadly [[September 11 attacks|9/11 attacks]] in the [[United States]] and Musharraf's unconditional [[Pakistan's role in the War on Terror|policy]] to support the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|American war]] in [[Afghanistan]], further damaged Musharraf's credibility in the country. In an unsuccessful [[Pakistan state of emergency 2007|attempt]] to dismiss the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Judicial system]], Musharraf [[Movement to impeach Pervez Musharraf|dramatically]] fall from power. The [[2008 Pakistani general elections|2008 general elections]] allowed the PPP, assisted by the left-wing alliance, further consolidated in opposition to Musharraf, though it was plagued with [[Rolling blackout|loadshedding]], law and order situations, foreign policy issues, and poor economic performances. In [[2013 Pakistani general election|elections]] held in 2013, the PML (N) won 166 seats in the National Assembly and formed the government.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Political parties performances in General elections since 1977
|-
! Political parties !!  [[1977 Pakistani general election|1977]]!! [[1988 Pakistani general election|1988]] !! [[1990 Pakistani general election|1990]] !! [[1993 Pakistani general election|1993]] !! [[1997 Pakistani general election|1997]] !! [[2002 Pakistani general election|2002]] !! [[2008 Pakistani general election|2008]]!! [[2013 Pakistani general election|2013]] 
|-
|[[Pakistan Peoples Party]] (PPP)|| 155 || 93 || 45 || 89 || 18 || 81 || 124 || 42
|-
|[[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]] (PML (N))|| 8 || 54 || 106 || 73 ||  137 || 19 || 91 || 166
|-
|[[Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan|Muttahida Qaumi Movement]] (P) || 0 || 13 || 15 || 0 || 12 || 17 || 25 || 18
|-
|[[Awami National Party]] (ANP) || 17 || 2 || 6 || 3 || 10 || 0 || 13 || 1
|-
|[[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam|Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (F)]] (JUI(F)) ||0 || 7 ||6 ||0 || 2 ||0 ||0 || 10
|-
|[[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf]] (PTI) ||0 || 0 ||0 ||0 ||0 ||1 ||0 || 35
|-
|[[Pakistan Muslim League (Q)|Pakistan Muslim League(Q)]] (PML (Q)) || 0 || 0|| 0 || 0 ||0 ||118 || 54 ||2
|-
||[[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]] (JeI) || 11 || 1 || 6 || 3 || 0 || 63 || 0 || 3 
|- 
|[[Independent (politician)|Independents]]\[[Pakistani political parties|Others]] ** || 8 || 38 || 30 || 42 || 28 || 36 || 21 ||28
|-
!Government 
|-
|Government after election || [[1977 Pakistani coup d'état|ML]]  || PPP   || PML (N) || PPP || PML (N) ||  PML (Q) || PPP || PML (N)
|-
!Total Seats
|-
| Total seats in [[Parliament of Pakistan|State Parliament]] || 200 || 207  || 207  || 207  || 207 ||  342 ||  340 || 342
|-
!Voter turnout
|-
| Estimated election voter turnout || 63.1%  || 43.07% || 45.46% || 40.28% || 35.42% || 41.08% ||44.23% || 55.02%
|}
All data and calculations are provided by [[Election Commission of Pakistan]] as the public domain. All elections were contested under a separate electorate system, the 1990 elections had allegations of vote-rigging confirmed by foreign observers.<ref>For more information, see "How an election was stolen" The [[Pakistan Democratic Alliance]] White paper on the Pakistan elections held in 1990. It was published by the weekly '[[MID Asia]]', [[Islamabad]], 1991.</ref> The 'MQM' contested the 1988 elections under the name ''Muhajir Qaumi Mahaz'', it boycotted the [[1993 Pakistani general election|1993 National elections]].<ref>source Herald Election Guide/October 2002 p38</ref>

====2008 General Elections====
{{main|2008 Pakistani general election}}
This election led to strong showings for the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), who signed the [[Bhurban Accord]] in response to the election results. The election was held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008, after being postponed from 8 January, the original date was intended to elect members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora (the nation's parliament). Pakistan's two main opposition parties, the PPP and the PML (N) won the majority of seats in the election. The PPP and PML (N) formed the new coalition government with [[Yousaf Raza Gillani]] as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Following the election, [[Pervez Musharraf]] acknowledged that the process had been free and fair. He conceded the defeat of the PML (Q) and pledged to work with the new Parliament. The voter turnout for the election was 35,170,435 people (44%). By-elections for 28 seats (23 provincial and 5 national) have been delayed numerous times, with most of them now held on being 26 June 2008.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!Parties
!Votes
!%
!Elected seats
!Reserved seats (women)
!Reserved seats (minorities)
!Total
!Percentile
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Pakistan Peoples Party]]
|10,606,486
|30.6%
|97
|23
|4
|124
|{{Composition bar|124|340|hex=red}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]]
|6,781,445
|19.6%
|71
|17
|3
|91
|{{Composition bar|91|340|hex=#008000}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Pakistan Muslim League (Q)]]
|7,989,817
|23.0%
|42
|10
|2
|54
|{{Composition bar|54|340|hex=#00FF00}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan|Muttahida Qaumi Movement]]
|2,507,813
|7.4%
|19
|5
|1
|25
|{{Composition bar|25|340|hex=orange}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Awami National Party]]
|700,479
|2.0%
|10
|3
|0
|13
||{{Composition bar|13|340|hex=red}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal|Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan]]
*[[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam|Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)]]
|772,798
|2.2%
|6
|1
|0
|7
|{{Composition bar|7|340|hex=#009000}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Pakistan Muslim League (F)]]
|
|
|4
|1
|0
|5
|{{Composition bar|5|340|hex=#00A550}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao)]]
|140,707
|0.4%
|1
|0
|0
|1
|{{Composition bar|1|340|hex=#BA160C}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[National Peoples Party (Pakistan)|National Peoples Party]]
|
|
|1
|0
|0
|1
|{{Composition bar|1|340|hex=#0000CD}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Balochistan National Party (Awami)]]
|
|
|1
|0
|0
|1
|{{Composition bar|1|340|hex=blue}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Independents
|
|
|18
|0
|0
|18
|{{Composition bar|18|340|hex=#536872}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|'''Total''' (turnout 44%)
<small>'''Note: [[Tehreek-e-Insaf]], [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]], [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan]], [[Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan]] and [[Jamiat Ahle Hadith]] [[Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party]] did not participate.'''</small>
|'''34,665,978'''
|'''100%'''
|'''270'''
|'''60'''
|'''10'''
|'''340'''
|-
| colspan="7" style="text-align:left;"|Source: [http://www.ecp.gov.pk/NAPosition.pdf Election Commission of Pakistan], [https://electionpakistan.com/parties-wise-election-results/?assembly=5&election=2 Election Pakistan: 2008 General Elections] [http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/p/pakistan/pakistan2008.txt Adam Carr's Electoral Archive]
|}

====Pakistani general election, 2013====
{{further|Pakistani general election, 2013}}